Pressurized refining blender for reducing liquid-solid suspensions



Aug. 12, 1958 1.. D. SMILEY 2,

w PRESSURIZED REFINING BLENDER FOR REDUCING LIQUID-SOLID SUSPENSIONS Filed Oct. 29, 1954 s Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTIIJR. LLOYD D. SMILEY D. SMILEY PRESSURIZED REFINING BLENDER FOR REDUCING Filed 001?. 29, 1954 Aug. 12, 1958 LIQUID-SOLID SUSPENSIONS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2.

mmvron. LLOYD D. SMILEY Aug. 12, 1958 Filed 001:. 29, 1954 PRESSURIZED REFINING BLENDER FOR REDUCING L. D. SMILEY 2,847,168

LIQUID-SOLID SUSPENSIONS v 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 LLOYD D. SMILEY United States Patent PRESSURIZED REFININ'G BLENDER FDR REDUC- ING LIQUID-SOLID SUSPENSIONS Lloyd 1). Smiley, St.' Louis, Mo., assignor to Gruendler Crusher and Pulverizer Company, St. Louis, 1 /10., a cor poration of Missouri This invention relates in general to certain new and useful improvements in refining blenders and, more particularly, in machines of the hammermill type particularly adapted for reducing a liquids-solids mixture to a homogeneous slurry in which the solids are in finely divided form.

At the present time, it is necessary in many different types of industrial and commercial operations to reduce a liquids-solids suspension to a homogeneous slurry under heat or pressure or both. For example, in the manufacture of paper pulp, the partially disintegrated cellulosic fibers suspended in a suitable liquid medium must be broken down into homogeneous slurry in order to accomplish an efficient separation between the useful paper making fibers and non-paper making waste products, and it is desirable to do so while maintaining, the heat. and pressure to which the wood chips have been subjected in the cookers or digesters. Furthermore, in many commercial operations, it is also desirable to modify the size, length, and other characteristics of the soldis or fibers contained in the slurry, not only by physical disintegration, but by the action of steam, hot water, and similar media.

It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide a refining blender which is capable of reducing a liquids-solids suspension to a homogeneous slurry under heat or pressure or both in which the solids content is in a finely divided state.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device of the type stated which is capable of homogenizing or changing the physical characteristics of liquids-solids suspension continuously under pressure and at a high rate of speed. i

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a refining blender which is capable of homogenizing or changing the physical characteristics of heavy viscous slurriesand expelling such slurries at a uniform and controlled rate without significant loss of pressure within the machine.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a refining blender of the type stated which is simple and economical in construction and is rugged and durable so that maintenance and operating costs are held to a minimum and processing operationsv performed with it are extremely efiicient in terms of cost per unit of material processed.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention resides in the novel features of form, construction, arrangement, and combination of parts presently described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings (three sheets)- Figure 1 is a front elevational view, of a refining blender constructed in-accordance with and embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Figure l; and

a Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 33 of Figure 2.

Referring now in more detail and by reference characters to the drawings, which illustrate practical embodiments of the present invention, A designates a refining blender comprising an oblong rectangular base casting 1 having a horizontally extending peripheral flange 2 adapted for seourement in any conventional Way to a floor or other supporting structure. Around its upper peripheral margin, the base casting 1 is provided with a narrow horizontal flange 3 and secured thereupon by means of bolts 4 is a housing shell 5 integrally including a rear wall 6, a front wall 7, side walls 8, 9, and a bot tom wall 10, which extends more or less horizontally between the side walls 8, 9, and is funneled downwardly in the provision of a discharge opening 11 connected with a discharge pipe 12. Just above the bottom Wall ltl, the side walls 8, 9, are curved to form a substantially cylindrical horizontal discharge chamber 13 and upwardly therefrom the side walls 8, 9, diverge outwardly in the provision of a straight-sided funnel-shaped sump 14. The front and rear walls 6, 7, terminate at their lower ends at the cylindrical chamber and are respectively provided with circular closure plates 15, 15', respectively secured in place by bolts 16, 16', and gaskets 17, 17'. The closure plates 15, 15, are, in turn, provided with coaxial journals 18, 18, for operatively supporting a shaft 19 which extends horizontally through the discharge chamber 13 and therein are integrally provided with a plurality of radial wings 20 which are lapped along their edges into the interior face of the discharge chamber 13 and form therewith a series ofdischarge pockets 1. Externally the discharge chamber 13, the shaft 19 is conventionally connected through a shaft coupling 0 to an electric motor 21 bolted to the base casting 1.

Removably mounted over the side walls 8, 9, by means of bolts 22, 23, is a semi-cylindrical cage top 25 having a radially olfset vertical intake stack 26 connected at its upper end with an intake pipe 27 having an enlarged coupling collar 28 which is connected to the stack 26 by bolts 29, 30. The cage top 25 is provided upon its peripheral margins with a continuous flange 31 for receiving the series of bolts 22,23. It will be understood in this connection that a flange 31 is conventionally sealed to the upper margins of the shell 5 to provide a reasonable tight liquid proof seal therearound and thus form a somewhat cylindrical grinder cage 34. It will, of course, be understood that the intake pipe 27 is connected to a source of pressure (not shown).

Formed integrally with and extending laterally outwardly from'the rear and front walls 6, 7, are brackets 35, conventionally provided upon their upper faces with journal boxes 36 in which a conventional grinder shaft 37 is rotatably mounted. The grinder shaft 37 extends axially through the grinder cage 34 and at its opposite ends is provided with parallel disks 38 which, in turn, support a heavy cylinder or drum 39 provided at uniformly spaced intervals around its periphery with a series of rectangular slots 40 containing fixed hammers 41 arranged in staggered relation, as shown in Figure 3, and are removably held in place by means of rods 42 which are, in turn, locked in place by end rings 43. Bolted upon the interior face of the cage top 25 and extending around substantially the entire portion of its cylindrical face are serrated breaker plates 44 so dimensioned as to provide an appropriate degree of clearance between the ends of the hammers 41, substantially as shown in Figure 2.

Bolted or otherwise rigidly secured upon the interior faces of the rear and front walls 6, 7, in concentric relation to the shaft 37 is a plurality of arcuate block elements or pads 45 for supporting a semi-cylindrical foraminous screen 46 which rests thereupon and is held in place by endwise abutment along its upper transverse margins against the inwardly presented transverse end faces of the lowermost breaker plates 44.

The shaft 37 is conventionally connected through a shaft coupling 47 to an electrical motor 48 which is, in turn, mounted on a conventional lateral extension 49 of the base casting 1 and is, in turn, conventionally connected to a source of electrical power (not shown).

In use and operation, a liquids-solids mixture is fed into the grinder cage 34 through the intake pipe 27. The incoming suspension is then impacted by the hammers 41 and thoroughly beaten into the liquid until it passes through the screen 46. As will be observed by reference to Figure 2, the discharge pockets p maintain a level of slurry within the sump 14 so that the hammers 41 will run immersed during travel along the lowermost portion of their are and the disintegrating action will thus continue in the slurry. Meanwhile, as the suspension continues to be fed into the grinder cage, the slurry will build up in the sump 14 and, as the shaft 19 rotates slowly, will be discharged at a rate approximately equal to the rate of infeed so that, when the device is brought up to full scale operation, homogenized slurry will flow outwardly through the discharge pipe 12 at approximately the same rate of flow as that of the infeed. By adjusting the rate of infeed, it is possible to vary the rate of flow through the refining blender A and the degree of fineness of the solids of the discharged slurry. The Wings 20 of the shaft 19 serve to retain pressure within the sump 14 and discharge the slurry to atmospheric pressure at a controlled rate.

It should be understood that changes and modifications in the form, construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts of the refining blender may be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without departing from the nature and principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A refining blender having a pressure tight cage, the bottom portion of which is formed by a foraminous screen, a rotor operatively mounted for rotation within the cage, a plurality of radially projecting hammers mounted around the rotor, means for introducing a liquid-solids mixture into the cage under pressure, a sump-forming housing mounted beneath the screen and forming an integral pressure-tight downward extension of the cage, said pressuretight extension including opposed arcuate Wall sections and end closure plates, shaft rotatably mounted in said pressure-tight downward extension and located between the arcuate wall sections, and a plurality of plate-like wings extending radially outwardly of said shaft and adapted to form with said arcuate wall sections and closure plates fluid-tight pockets, thereby making it possible to retain pressure in the cage and at the same time permit discharge of slurry from the sump as the shaft and wings rotate.

2. A refining blender according to claim 1, wherein the shaft is journaled in the end closure plates.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,078,415 Chalfant Nov. 11, 1913 1,503,138 Shartle July 29, 1924 1,725,868 Kenyon Aug. 27, 1929 2,038,374 Mansfield Apr. 21, 1936 2,400,382 Arnold May 14, 1946 2,494,296 Gunter et al Jan. 10, 1950 2,543,164 Harrenstein Feb. 27, 1951 2,689,688 Ball et al Sept. 21, 1954 2,750,123 Keiper June 12, 1956 

